1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to percutaneous introducer sheaths, in particular a percutaneous elastic introducer sheath designed to introduce a transcatheter device into a patient's vasculature. The percutaneous elastic introducer sheath can accommodate the delivery of transcatheter devices of a range of sizes.
2. Background Art
A percutaneous introducer sheath is used to access the vascular system of a patient and acts as a way to introduce and, position various transcatheter medical devices within the patient. The introducer sheath is a tube-like member which is partially inserted into the vasculature at a puncture site, typically in either the femoral, brachial, or radial artery of the patient. The proximal, or working end, of the introducer sheath is accessible outside of the vasculature for the introduction of transcatheter medical devices through the sheath. A guide wire can be inserted through the introducer sheath and subsequently steered through the vascular system to the site of therapy.
A typical introducer sheath system contains an access lumen for introduction of transcatheter medical devices, a Luer hub for connection to syringes and other peripheral devices, and a hemostasis valve to prevent blood loss from the lumen of the introducer sheath.
Large-profile transcatheter medical devices have traditionally required a larger-profile introducer sheath which provides a fixed internal clearance to allow the device to pass through the patient's vasculature. Such procedures using the large-profile transcatheter medical devices, typically through the femoral artery, are therefore limited to patients with sufficient vessel size to accommodate the introducer sheath. In order to extend the availability of large-profile transcatheter devices to patients with smaller vessel sizes, an introducer with a smaller profile that locally expands within the patient's vasculature to allow passage of the large-profile transcatheter device is desired. Local expansion and subsequent recoil of the elastic introducer profile is less traumatic on the patient's vessel than a sustained expansion for a large-profile introducer sheath.